KVAD is an Atmospheric Black Metal band based in Oslo, Norway. It looks like that is all the information I can gather on the band, as they do not have a Facebook page. This is their second full-length, and it has eight songs. The title track is the first. There is a long and eerie lead-in, then the punch of treble hits you. It's a slow and harrowing grind from there, and the vocal screams are held for effect. There is a nice balance between depression and rage. "I Long for the Fires" is more chaotic with a wall of guitars and blast beat drumming. The screams are relentless. There isn't much dynamism in the songs so far...they just roll forward with one main sound.

"This Was Death" is another chaotic sound that slows for a bit, and speeds back up. But make no mistake, this is FWOBM influenced music, from the vocals to the production to the guitars. There are also some eerie effects in the background. "Amidst Thunder & Demonic Ecstasy" is the first song with some diversity. It opens slowly and cautiously...holding the line on some psychedelic tones. From there, it's more of the same. I wouldn't call this Atmospheric Black Metal, but that is neither here nor there. "The Forest Draped Black" begins with a slow and hopeless groove, fueled by ragingly lamenting vocals. It picks up with intensity from there, and does not look back.

"Void Ritual" opens with a pandemonic sound. The screams are so intense that they seem to rattle in your head forever. It settles into a mesmerizing groove just after the half-way mark, and then is marred by the filth of heavy accents. "Ashes of a Life" closes the album. It's another intense sound where the vocals carry much of the harrowing elements. Overall, this wasn't a bad album, but it suffered from too narrow of a vision, such that nearly the same sound repeated itself over and over again. The production was pretty raw as well. The band will need to dig deep for the next album to avoid these pitfalls.